Buffy Makes Tough Decision in Comics Series, Creator Whedon Weighs in

It doesn’t always get easier after high school — not for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, anyway. The adventures of the heroine from the hit television show created by alum Joss Whedon ’87 continue to be chronicled in a series of comics from Dark Horse. In the latest issue of the current season, Buffy — living in San Francisco after having destroyed the “seed of all magic on earth” — will be forced to face one of the toughest decisions she will ever have had to make when she finds out she is pregnant, reports Entertainment Weekly. [explicit spoilers]

Details and executive producer Whedon’s wise words behind the cut.

In short: Buffy’s getting an abortion. Further upsetting some fans is the fact that she became pregnant at a party after becoming black-out drunk, and that she doesn’t know who the father is.

Whedon weighs in on his decision:

Did you always know that she would be getting an abortion, or did you ever contemplate the notion that she would keep the baby?No. I think strongly that teen pregnancy and young people having babies when they are not emotionally, financially, or otherwise equipped to take care of them, is kind of glorified in our media right now. You know, things like Secret Life [of an American Teenager] and Juno and Knocked Up – even if they pretend to deal with abortion, the movies don’t even say the word “abortion.” It’s something that over a third of American women are going to decide to have to do in their lives. But people are so terrified that no one will discuss the reality of it — not no one, but very few popular entertainments, even when they say they’re dealing with this issue, they don’t, and won’t. It’s frustrating to me.

I don’t think Buffy should have a baby. I don’t think Buffy can take care of a baby. I agree with Buffy. It’s a very difficult decision for her, but she made a decision that so many people make and it’s such a hot button issue with Planned Parenthood under constant threat and attack right now. A woman’s right to choose is under attack as much as it’s ever been, and that’s a terrible and dangerous thing for this country. I don’t usually get soap box-y with this, but the thing about Buffy is all she’s going through is what women go through, and what nobody making a speech, holding up a placard, or making a movie is willing to say.